China Offered Japan No. 2 Spot In Its New Bank: Report

In a failed effort to get Japan to join its new multinational lending bank, China had offered its neighbor the No. 2 post at the institution, according to a Nikkei news report Wednesday evening. Japan has since sided with the U.S. in staying out of the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), established by China last October and due to open this year. However, in a meeting in March, interim AIIB head Jin Liqun had told the Japanese chief of the Asian Development Bank that China was keen to include Japan in the new lending group and was willing to lobby the government in Tokyo in needed, the Nikkei said. Jin also offered the post of "top-ranking vice president" and other inducements, the Nikkei said. Some commentators have described the AIIB as a competitor with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, traditionally run by the Japanese and Americans, respectively. The Nikkei report said some of the AIIB's Southeast Asian nations had wanted China to include Japan in the bank.